Show G MIN t a ah TM G 0 G 0 0 a y istir mo 0 malme 0 0 0 0 Q by bt peter S B dyuk 7 N u borvice Sor vice CHAPTER X continued 12 crooked pill bill laughed pleasurably ne he liked this young mans gay frank cess bess and humor although it disturbed ill him m here he be reflected was exactly the sort of male biped to appeal to his niece 1 I hear kantrims An trims niece who la Is his heir is a guest at your ranch mr Elgue nes he said cautiously Is she anything like her uncle tom antrim was her misfortune not her fault miss antrim is without doubt the most delightful fascinating provoking adroit belligerent sports manlike man like and honest young lady it has ever been my fortune to meet youre in love with her crooked bill charged it was ills his habit to attack without barnin warning for he knew the value ot of surprise and gr grasping aspIn g the Initia initiative the don jaime shrugged what else would one expect well do you stand a ChIn amans chance alas no I 1 killed her uncle 1 yet ashes your guest oh she realized I 1 had no other alternative ter native Ho however weier under the circumstances cum stances I 1 have thought it the part of wisdom to remain the good friend I 1 am afraid of that young wom woman I 1 fear she would not be an ideal wife for a niguenes youre an ass oung man crooked bill cried sharply ply all of his love and loyalty to his niece instantly outraged if ashes all that you have just told me she Is ashes a prize and youre a lobster not to go in and win her 1 I have some pride don jaime murmured sadly 1 I could not risk a refusal it would kill me moreover there Is another man some fellow in new york he sat down to permit the juleps to chill oh crooked dill bill was relieved he ee was discovering things and discoveries co coN were not unpleasant so youre going to buy the antrim sheep don jaime resumed resu ive bought them subject to the approval of the heir and the probate court im very much afraid neither one will approve mr blodgett Elod gett unfortunately tuna tely I 1 want those sheep been feeding for tl two 0 months on grass rig rightfully mine and done so much damage to my range I 1 might ns as well keep them there and make a profit out of them for miss ani an trim she tells me her uncle who was very rich has gone broke in the market and ashes hocked chocked the sheep and the ranch to help him out by george she is a sport she if I 1 permit you to buy those sheep where do you intend to graze them dont intend to graze them im going to sell them immediately locally perhaps that makes it a little binding I 1 like to see 3 ou sell those sheep locally while I 1 can stand them on my range for miss kantrims An trims sake my forbearance would cease it if they belonged to anybody else and continued to trespass on my range Is it your range no its state land but I 1 control the water so I 1 fear ill have bale to outbid you on those sheep mr blodgett ive got my heart set on them son end and when that happens I 1 usually get what I 1 go after 0 don jaime concluded it was time to strike you went vent after my dad once and you get him lie ile got you in the hool heel jou cunning old and add im here to tell you that the old greaser spirit frozen in the veins of Patri elos son mr william B Lath arill 11 11 ll II ls firel fire I 1 crooked dill bill appeared about to collapse in his chair 1 I figured out what youre up to mr crooked bill but its de blout alou and mr air glenn cackett is helping out youre framing something on me am an I 1 think you merely want to net get those sheep out or of the vay so our niece can be ordered home leavi lealnd y little jainie miguel ilig so 60 sheep stay and roberta stays your niece Is tin an outrageous coquette coquel lc it if you must know it and I 1 bet you do so its my job to bust that young woman and marry her and id like to lo see the hie photograph of 0 the antediluvian uncle that cau can throw a cold chisel into my cogs lind and get away with it crooked bill thought swiftly of all the things lie he would bale baie to explain if 1 roberta ever learned what he had bad been up to and his thoughts saddened him can cad you fix it with the judge to disapprove the saler sale certainly ril ill offer ten cents a head bead more for those sheep than you have I 1 cant spare that amount of ready cash to put into sheep just now so loan we me the money secured by a chattel mortgage on the t but crooked rill pill had been crowded crowd cil far enough ill see jou in h I 1 first where do you expect to land yourself it if bobby hears what youve been F up to toa uncle fiill jim higgins Is I 1 talking to you now dont you call me uncle bill D n you youre impertinent t allow you do violate the rules ot of hospitality well please answer my question youve got me foul don prudencio alviso evidently receive any instructions from you regarding those sheep so the deals gone through don jaime sighed 1 I wanted it to go through until I 1 discovered the identity of the buyer but I 1 certain about you until I 1 suggested a drink I 1 wanted to see you walk it if you limp I 1 was going to let you have the sheep dut cut it if you limped i youve been slow on the trigger jim haggins just a few hours though evidently why did you want those sheep so my niece would have no further excuse to remain at valle verde im not playing you as the favorite in this race mr higgins nig ging I 1 dont want my niece to marry you you confounded gatins are too mercurial besides I 1 dont want roberta to uve live in texas ashes like a daughter to me id miss her im an old man 2 don jaime sipped his julep thoughtfully 1 I bet more than a five cent bag of tobacco that youre goins going to have your peace of mind als but ill disturb it it if I 1 can you dont figure nery ery largely in my plans either cither and I 1 dont believe you ever went bust judging by the careless way you buy sheep you must have money to burn who lid did you sell the sheep to dill dingle that is I 1 sold them to him yet but the deal is ready to be closed all ah on jawbone eh ch youre going to take a chattel mortgage and sell at a loss for dingle is too good a to give you a profit on your deal don jaime COMMe commenced Deed to chuckle youre doomed to pay a high price for your fancies uncle william dingle will sell those sheep as soon as he can and beat it for parts unknown with the alie money leaning you to charge that chattel mortgage oft off on your next income tax statement crooked bills face re registered ered alarm you think so well after youve closed the deal ill bet you a hundred thousand dollars hell try to and hell succeed unless hes stopped let me know the minute the deal with dingle Is closed because immediately thereafter im going to guard every waterhole water hole and those sheep of yours will die of thirst before dingle can move them oft off that range 1 I think ill sell you those sheep crooked bill faltered youre regaining your senses ill buy them from you at two dollars a head less than you paid for them ill teach you to take a joke mister you horned in on my private affairs and now youve got to fee the fiddler and ill not pay cash either five per cent interest on a chattel mortgage however be safe with a chattel mortgage of mine it if I 1 sell to you will you give me your word of honor never to tell ro eo berta a word about this im willing to make that stipulation a part ot of the contract lets shake hands on it they shook hands youre a smart devil said crooked bill admiringly im sort of sorry I 1 conspired against you but I 1 had my reasons I 1 wanted glenn hackett ackett II my attorney to be my nephew in law nes iles a gentleman so am 1 I 11 youre a wild irish bandit you just get by and one of these days not Some somebody boly will tunnel you yet tt they had bad dinner after which they strolled over to don prudencio Pruden clo al alsos s office and closed the sale of the sheep and now crooked bill demanded when the deal was consummated ill forgive you a whole lot jim Iggins Ll it if tell me how bow come you got on to me so don jaime told him serves me right the old gentleman declared 1 I played my hand poorly well im out of the sheep business it seems so BO about all left for me to do now is to go back to new york oli oh say not so uncle bill just go back to the hotel climb into your regular clothes and come along out to the ranch me surprise roberta shell think I 1 sent for you just to give ghe her a pleasant surprise and shell be very grateful thus I 1 shall boom my stock a bit with her besides I 1 want you to see valle verde 1 I saw it twenty flye dye icara ears a ago 0 o 11 never know the old homestead now I 1 want to show you the room occupy six months of 0 the year then ft lien hen I 1 1 visit isit you at dobbs perry ferry you cau can reciprocate and show me the room ill occupy there six els months 0 of the year provided I 1 marry roberta you going to ask her at the proper time thanks tor for the proffer of your hospitality pita lity son but ill not accept it you see I 1 m going to put the skids under you and it just be right to harbor such intentions while under your roof so youre going to make roberta come home tire are you the program oot got a good excuse the best in the norad ive made another killing in the market the sheep have haie been sold to advantage and she ab excuse in the world for hanging around valle verde waiting for you to screw your courage up to the point of proposing don jaime sighed well im not exactly shackled to those sheep I 1 have bate good men to care for thorn them I 1 suppose theres a hotel of sorts in dobbs ferry where I 1 can put up while paying court to roberta he announced plaintively shell invite me to the house of course and have to stand for it because you can never give a good and sufficient reason for objecting to me you know deep in your wicked old heart uncle bill that im quite a fellow before I 1 ask roberta to marry me I 1 mean to be certain ashes going to like texas well enough to live in it I 1 want to know that life will not be dull for her on 4 AR you confounded gatins are too mercurial valle verde I 1 want her to know the job im doing and why im doing it I 1 want her to realize that it she marries me ashes got to be an asset not a liability consequently I 1 wan want I 1 her to stay another month at least and learn things shed never be happy with you youre too fierce and tough in your friendly humorous way which Is lust just your camouflage youre a dangerous man look here hefe uncle bill has it occurred to you that an higueres Higue nes Is stepping out of his class to mate with an antrim all the fierce hot pride of his spanish ancestors was flaring in don jaimes black orbs arbs you knew my rather father you know the tribe of higueres Higue nes we have no family skeletons and it if tom antrim suborder suborned sub orned one murder he suborned sub orned half a dozen my spanish ancestors were not peasants ill have you understand oh I 1 know that I 1 its your irish al ancestors that I 1 object to ireland was ireland when england was a pup my irish ancestors were twanging harps in taras halls when your anglo saxon progenitors were blubbering because somebody had stolen their bearskins bear skins and left them naked oh well lets not talk about it youve had your way with me and now ill have my way with you it if I 1 can I 1 fool you boy CHAPTER XI an hour later crooked bill boarded the train tor for el paso but before doing so he sent the following telegram to glenn hackett ackett II the ship Is sunk without a trace so brace yourself tor for bad news stop this higgins boy gave me cards cardi and spades four aces big and little casino and bet me to death on the sweeps stop I 1 am mighty sorry you have lost but far from depressed that he appears to be going to win stop I 1 belong in a home for the feeble minded at almost the same time don jaime joined ken hobart in front of the mansion house any luck nobart hobart queried anxiously im in the sheep business and may god have mercy on my soul ken tomorrow morning well pay oft off that gang of murderers dingle has herding those sheep and put our own men on the job dingle gets the raus too well clear a nice profit wont you chief what replied don jaime mournfully doth it profit a man if he the whole world and suffel ereth the loss of the lodestar lode star of his existence none whatever ken admitted without knowing in the least what he be was talking about five miles outside los algodones Algo Alg donea his sharp eyes observed something far ahead and oft the file side of the road he called don dalmes attention to it in the starlight a tiny red dot gleamed cigarette mexican careless don jaime mur mureiL ali ah hes bes doused it getting ready for business lie he reached down into the and brought up a carbine simultaneously ken hobart II obart swung the car off the road and went crashing away allay through the low sage la in a wide are arc there may be holes and dry watercourses water Nater courses on this road he announced calmly but well have to take a chance ile he switched oft off the lights just as a volley of rifle fire broke the stillness of the ni night bt the car was hit twice but most of the bullets droned dronek overhead don jaime pumped his carbine firing at the flashes and the car crashed on when the magazine was empty he set the rifle back in the be careful after that he be announced calmly not close with us because they know were bad medicine nt at close quarters ken better swing back into the road they did and reached the hacienda without further incident don jaime alighted and entered the patio while ken hobart drove the car to the garage roberta ran swiftly to meet don jaime youre safe jimmy she cried in a choking voice reasonably so bobby he replied my information was correct dingles crowd of imported killers laid for us well that finishes dill bill dingle in las cruces county tomorrow he be goes and on the run or somebody will be carrying him to slow music that he wont hear have you been worried hobby he asked gently she nodded its been a long time since anybody worried over me cobby bobby what will I 1 do when youre gone what did you do before I 1 came jimmy and 1 I think jimmy id bettor better go soon theres really nothing more of a business nature for me to attend to there never was in fact just a few papers to sign some sheep to look at and really your worry not mine this afternoon I 1 received a letter from my uncle it seems that after losing his money ou on it a big rise he plunged again on the same stock anticipating it would drop sharply our friend glenn hackett backed him and I 1 secured glenn with an assignment of the antrim estate there are no other heirs you see well the stock performed as expected and uncle bill is on his feet again glenn Is paid back and uncle bill wants me to sell the sheep for whatever I 1 can get for them and come home well certainly very nice news for all hands with the eKe exception eption of the higueres niguenes Higue nes boy I 1 dont want you to go cobby bobby were just getting acquainted quain ted with each other and I 1 dont want to go elther either so soon its been wonderful to visit valle verde its quiet here so peaceful at first I 1 thought it such ft a forlorn country but now I 1 can see beauty in it I 1 can understand why you love it jimmy and why you give it up for anything in the world its yours this land is part of you these people are your responsibilities it m must be wonderful to have responsibilities bili ties you take risks you fight with that dingle man oh there will be no fight ill just tell him to get out of las cruces county and hell get out by the way Is glenn hackett a pretty fine fellow As one fine as a man can be I 1 think are you going to marry him bobby T no she fairly fired the word at him excuse me for being curious about your business roberta but I 1 just wanted to know it if you had a reasonable excuse for going back to new york youre very welcome here |